Amanullah Khan (24 August 1934 – 26 April 2016) was the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a Kashmiri militant activist group that advocates independence for the entire Kashmir region. Khan's JKLF initiated the ongoing armed insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir with backing from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, which lasted until Pakistan dropped its support of secular Kashmiri separatists in favour of pro-Pakistan Islamist groups, such as the Hizbul Mujahideen. In 1994, the JKLF in the Kashmir Valley, under the leadership of Yasin Malik, renounced militancy in favour of a political struggle. Amanullah Khan disagreed with the strategy, causing a split in the JKLF.

Amanullah Khan was born on 24 August 1934 in the hamlet of Pari Shang in the Astore District of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (present day Gilgit-Baltistan). His father, Jumma Khan died when he was three years old. Khan was relocated to Kupwara in the Kashmir Valley to live with his brother-in-law Hashmat Ali Khan. He went to primary school locally and secondary school in Handwara.

Khan completed the matriculation exam in 1950, where he is said to have scored the highest marks among Muslim students. He subsequently received an admission to the Sri Pratap College in Srinagar with the help of National Conference leader Maulana Masoodi, who also provided him space to stay at the Mujahid Manzil, the National Conference headquarters. Afterwards, he joined the Amar Singh College.

In 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir came to be divided between India and Pakistan, with the Kashmir Valley being under Indian control and Khan's native place of Astore being under Pakistani control. Khan was a staunch supporter of Pakistan and became active in student politics. His anti-India protests came under the scanner of the Sheikh Abdullah administration in the Valley and a series of FIRs were registered. Eventually, when Khan held a protest after the assassination of Pakistani prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, he was served a deportation order. He drove to Jammu and from there crossed into Sialkot in January 1952.

Khan attempted to get into the Garden College in Rawalpindi, but was refused admission since his former college in Jammu and Kashmir was not recognized there. He subsequently enrolled in the Edwards College in Peshawar but was soon expelled due to trouble with the college principal. Finally, he enrolled in the Sindh Madressatul Islam University in Karachi and graduated in 1957, obtaining a degree in law in 1962.

By 1962, Amanullah Khan became an advocate of reunification of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and complete independence from both India and Pakistan. He started a monthly magazine called "Voice of Kashmir" reflecting his ideology. Jointly with G. M. Lone, a member of the Azad Kashmir State Council, he established the Kashmir Independence Committee, which lobbied the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government to take a more active role in Indian-administered Kashmir. In 1964, Khan was elected as the Secretary General of the Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front, inspired by the Jammu Kashmir Plebiscite Front started by Mirza Afzal Beg in Indian-administered Kashmir. Subsequently, in April 1965, the Kashmir Independence Committee was merged into the Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front.

The Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front (NLF) was an offshoot of the Plebiscite Front, established by Khan and Maqbool Bhat around August 1965 for carrying out armed insurgency in the Indian-controlled Kashmir. Armed operations were started in November 1965, shortly after the failed Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Maqbool Bhat and Mir Ahmad entered the Kashmir Valley attempting to recruit members. They were compromised and ended up killing a police official. Captured and sentenced to death, Bhat nevertheless escaped from prison and made it back to Azad Kashmir. In Pakistan, he was accused of being an Indian spy and imprisoned. Amanullah Khan was also imprisoned for 15 months in a Gilgit prison during 1970–72, accused of being an Indian agent. He was released after protests broke out in Gilgit. Thirteen of his colleagues were sentenced to 14 years in prison, but released after a year. Khan was also tried in absentia in Srinagar, where he was accused of being an agent of Pakistan.

Further attempts by the NLF to infiltrate into Indian-controlled Kashmir met with failure. Journalist Praveen Swami states that the organisation did not have enough funds and infrastructure, or support from other sources, to make an impact inside Indian Kashmir. Paul Staniland adds that "State repression" in the Indian Kashmir also played a key role.